Egyptology
by Jet556
Summary: AU set between the French campaign in Egypt and Syria and the search for Tutankhamun's tomb. Tina is the daughter of an Egyptologist who was killed by mercenaries three years ago. Wanting to continue her father's legacy and bring his name out of the mud, she and Lee search for the tomb of Ptah in the Valley of the Kings.
1. Somewhere in this Valley

**Welcome everyone. It is AU time again. Enjoy and review.**

 **Somewhere in this Valley**

Between the years when the French campaign in Egypt and Syria had ended and the years of the search for Tutankhamun's tomb had begun, there was an Egyptologist by the name of Kwee. He had reached the height of the field by the time his daughter Tina was fifteen years of age and yet unfortunately by the time Tina was fifteen he had fallen back down to the bottom of the field.

Believing that Ptah, the Egyptian God of the Arts and the first Pharaoh of the legendary period, had been based off of a real person, Kwee intended to set out and find his tomb. The result was for him to become the laughing stock of archaeological community and for him to be brought down to the bottom again. He died by the end of the year but not out of grief or any such thing. During his last expedition in Egypt, where he was in search of Ptah's tomb Kwee was murdered by mercenaries… Believed to have been hired by the King of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty.

As for Tina, she grew into a brave young woman determined to bring her father's name out of the mud it had fallen into. So it was that in the Valley of the Kings she stood not far from the tomb of Ramesses I.

"Somewhere in this valley…" She muttered. "Somewhere in this valley…"

"What was that, Ms. Kwee?" asked a voice.

"Nothing, Stepak." Replied Tina. "Just talking to myself." Her scullion or servant, Stepak had come with her. The Kwee family had another servant by the name of Moneranian but ever since Moneranian's father had been apprehended and discovered to have been one of the mercenaries who had assassinated Mr. Kwee… Who would have kept him so close?

"You'll be happy to know that Mr. Ping will be arriving in Cairo in a few days, Mr. Martinez is attending some sort of thing with James Fenimore Cooper so his help is a maybe and Mr. Holgaart is facing imprisonment for accidentally damaging a statue of Holger Danske, funny thing irony."

"What about Biffy?" asked Tina.

"Mr. Goldstein? He has been arrested for walking into a bar with a pig under one arm and a five-foot salami under the other."

Tina could only stare. That was and odd thing to be arrested for. It only caused her to wonder what Biffy had been doing with a pig and a five-foot salami. She shook her head and placed a hand on Stepak's shoulder.

"Very good. Back to our accommodations then?"


	2. People of the Nile

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **People of the Nile**

On the way back to their accommodations, Tina thought about Egypt's past and its present. The people of the Nile had been through a lot.

The reign of the pharaohs had lasted an eternity it seemed. The reigns of some pharaohs lasting just as long it seemed. For twenty-four dynasties, the Egyptians had ruled. Then the Nubians came. They conquered the Egyptians and like the Normans to the Saxons many of them turned thief and oppressor. Their reign had not been long. After some six rulers, the Nubian dynasty had been replaced by a dynasty that was once more Egyptian. It wasn't to last though. After the twenty-sixth dynasty the Persians came and like the Nubians they conquered Egypt, were run out, then conquered Egypt again.

Finally, the Alexander the Great came. There were those who viewed him favorably, those who viewed him unfavorably. For Tina, she viewed Alexander for what he had been: a man of his time. Not someone to be deified or demonizied, just someone to learn about. After Alexander his feeble-minded paternal half-brother Philip III of Macedon succeeded him. After Philip, Alexander's son who had been named for his late father succeeded him.

After Alexander IV, one of his father's generals, Ptolemy, became pharaoh. So it was that Tina had come to learn that Ptolemy had been the father of the final dynasty of pharaohs. It continued on down Ptolemy's line until his descendant Cleopatra.

She was the first of Egypt's Greek rulers to not view herself as Greek but Egyptian. There were without a doubt she had been beautiful, just maybe not as beautiful as some painters made her look. She also most likely, given her descent from Ptolemy, was not a raven-haired, ivory skinned beauty; nor a black one. Given her descent from Ptolemy, she was most likely like any other Mediterranean woman in appearance.

After Cleopatra, the time of Egyptian royalty had ended. The time of Roman governors had come. And after the Roman governors came the Islamic governors. And finally came the Ottoman governors. The line of governors ended in 1805 and a new line of monarchs came to be: the Muhammad Ali dynasty.

This was the Egypt Tina had come to. This was the second age of Egyptian royalty. An age that was different but no different than the previous ones. There were good leaders, there were bad leaders and there were average leaders. If Egypt would ever have the glory of democracy who could say?

Sighing, Tina looked at the Nile. Such beauty in the land she loved. This was the land where she would redeem her father.


	3. Orders is Orders

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **Orders is Orders**

Something Stepak had not told Tina, and for good reason, was that he had hired Wendell Barrage as the overseer of the workers. He was an odd choice to be sure but an effective one. He certainly got the workers to work with his motto "Orders is orders."

But yet there was one worker whom openly questioned this. He was Basil Hagen, the son of German immigrant Cassius Hagen and his Greek immigrant wife Sondra. Cassius was dead and Sondra was travelling, as was Basil when he didn't find himself bankrupt which at the moment he was and thus needed a way to get out of Cairo that was not walking and so he intended to get enough money to get himself on a ship out of Egypt and preferably to the lands where the Hittites once ruled.

"He'd order us to walk right off a cliff if he told us and you'd all do it because you believe in this orders is orders nonsense!" Basil often said. If there was any truth to it no one knew. So it was that he said the same thing amongst all the workers just as Barrage came walking in to their quarters.

"Hagen, you best have something better to say."

"Why should I?"

"Because the one we work for is Tina Kwee!"

It was at this point that Basil went quiet. If it were the daughter of the great Egyptologist then surely following orders wasn't so bad.

"Men!" Basil turned to look at the rest of the workers. "Forget what I said. Tina Kwee is an honorable person. We can trust her! If good old Barrage here works for her then we shall follow orders!"

All of the workers were playing a game of cards. They weren't even listening to him.

Putting a hand on Basil's shoulder, Barrage shook his head. "It was good, Hagen but they've got their minds on other things."

Sighing, Basil put his jacket on and grabbed his cap. "So be it. If they have other things on their mind then I can turn mine to other things."

"And that would be?"

"Something I'm not proud of. To debauch affluent wedded gentlewomen to swindle them out of their pelf is so seventeenth century!"


	4. Carnarvon's Waltz

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **Carnarvon's Waltz**

A few days passed and Lee Ping arrived in Egypt. It had been quite a while since he and Tina had seen one another and they had wanted to catch up. So it was that the day of work was cancelled, giving the workers some time off.

Lee had brought along with him a copy of Carnavon's Waltz, which had been written by 1st Earl Robert Dormer of Carnarvon. It was a fine piece of music. Wanting Tina to hear it too, Lee asked Stepak to get some musicians to play it. The result was him getting Basil to find some of the workers who had musical talent. The result was Basil finding Edward McFeeeney.

"Are you out of your mind?" asked Stepak. "A kleptomaniac?"

Sighing, Basil shrugged. "He plays piano. You wanted me to find someone amongst the workers with musical talent and he is the only one I could find."

"You couldn't have found someone else?"

"Oh, forgive me. I wasn't under the impression that you were looking for Beethoven."

"Beethoven's dead."

"I know that!" Screamed Basil, causing Lee and Tina to come walking out into the hallway where Stepak and Basil were having their little conversation. Edward was just standing there trying to pick their pockets. "You think I don't know that? You probably think I'm not aware that Alexandre Dumas is dead as well."

"He's still alive!"

"Not the son, you idiot! The father!" It was at that point that Basil went into a violent coughing fit that caused his elbow to come into contact with Edward's nose. Once out of it, Basil grabbed Stepak by this shirt. "I've brought now let him play your blasted waltz! I've got mna a lomra as a gcuid airgid!"

"He just said…" Edward didn't get any further.

"They heard what I said! They don't need you to translate! Now get in there and play that blasted waltz… And give me back my wallet!" Grabbing his wallet from Edward, Basil left the hallway.

This alone caused an awkward bit of silence. It was ultimately Lee who broke it.

"Well, shall we have the waltz played?"


	5. Sands of Time

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **Sands of Time**

The sands of time had shifted constantly. The desert reclaiming many a thing that was rightfully it's own left many things hidden beneath the sands. Thus to find something in this vast expense of desert that was Egypt was a great difficulty, less so with the belief that the tomb of Ptah was in the Valley of the Kings.

But it was a difficulty nonetheless. There were other archaeological expeditions in the valley, resulting in some short brawls between the workers. There were never any fatalities thanks to Basil trying to keep the peace amongst the workers, which was successful for the most part except there was always those against peace, those who spat on pacifism, those who did not qualify as human.

Yet the work went on. Tina and Lee kept on searching the Valley of the Tombs. There would be complaints from the workers but they would be temporary. So, one day in the merry month of May, Lee and Tina talked about the possibility that maybe Ptah's tomb did not even exist.

"It must!" exclaimed Tina, pacing back and forth in her tent. The very thought that her father was wrong was inconceivable! "The sands of time must have just hidden it!"

"But what if it is not real?" asked Lee. "If it is then this whole thing has been for nothing!"

"But my father's good name must be—"

"And it will be without looking for something that might not exist." Lee placed his hands on Tina's arms and looked into her eyes. "The more we look for this tomb, the more the Muhammad Ali Dynasty will want to stop us for, in their minds, degrading a legendary leader into a mere mortal. How long until they stoop to assassination?"

The clearing of a throat caused Lee and Tina to look over to the tent's entrance. Standing there was Barrage.

"The workers have found something." He said, looking not a little amused. "Was I interrupting something?"

Tina pulled herself from Lee's grasp and walked over to Barrage. "No, of course not." She then looked over to Lee. "Looks like the sands of time have been removed, Lee." She then looked at Barrage once more. "They've found something, have they? Then lets see it!"

And with that, Barrage led Tina out of the tent.


	6. Spirits in Torment

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **Spirits in Torment**

The look of the structure that had been found could be best described as a combination of pyramid and sphinx… If not much smaller than both the sphinx and any pyramid that could be named.

"Looks like something out a fairy tale." Commented Lee.

"It looks amazing!" exclaimed Tina. There was no doubt that this was the tomb of Ptah! "Can we get some workers to open it up? Where is Basil Hagen? He is quite influential!"

It took some time to find Basil. He was ultimately found talking to workers from various camps.

"And then Antony honored the dead Brutus!" He had been talking about William Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." He gave a laugh. "There is no way one such as Marcus Brutus is one of the spirits in torment." Upon seeing Tina, Barrage and Lee, Basil knew he was needed. "Ah, so we've found something. You need me to persuade the local workers to crack open the tomb. You know they aren't permitted to do such a thing. Only foreign museums."

"So will you do it?" asked Tina.

"Of course but I ask that if I fail you still pay me. I do need a way to get out of this country after all." Basil did go to the local workers of their expedition and returned with less than half of the total of them. "On second thought, don't pay me. My powers of persuasion aren't worth the payment if they can only get you eight and not all."

"It is better than nothing." Commented Tina. "You'll be paid anyway."

Bringing the workers to the entrance of the tomb, they set to work and cracked the door open. Once open, Tina walked inside followed by Barrage and Lee. It was not a very grand tomb but what was found was the story of the life of whoever was buried here.

The hieroglyphs indicated that the story was that of a man, most likely the first to ever be buried in the Valley of the Kings. The one buried here had come even before the New Kingdom, from 1550 t0 1070 BC.

As an adult, the occupant of this tomb did indeed resemble the hieroglyphs of Ptah. It must have been Ptah it must have been! Tina was filled with unbridled joy! At long last her father's good name would be restored.


	7. Go on daddy

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **Go On Daddy**

As Tina walked through the dusty hallway of the tomb, she thought back to her childhood. She thought back to talking to her father.

"Go on daddy." She would say.

And so he would tell her about the mysteries of Egypt's great past. The days before the Romans came, before the Macedonians, before the Persians, before the Nubians… Fabulous days that Egypt would never see again!

It was those days with her father that Tina had enjoyed most. While her mother had pushed Tina to engage herself in more lady-like pursuits and she had enjoyed them to an extent, she had enjoyed those days with her father the most.

When she attended her father's lectures, all those people would be hanging on every word. Tina was no exception. She always listened when her father spoke, as a child should. It was best that children listened to their parents because sometimes the child would go through what the parent did.

And indeed such a thing did occur. Old Kwee had feared that archaeology would become a spectator's sport. Now Tina was fearing the same thing. Tina wished she could ask her father about what to do when such a fear came to her. But he was dead and she could not.

"Go on daddy." she would say.

She would learn of the Pharaohs. Dedumose I, Ahmose I, Thutmose II, Amenhotep II, Akhenaten, Ramesses II, Merneptah whom people called the Pharaoh of the Exodus and of course she would learn of Setnakhte. All of these Pharaohs she had memorized the deeds of.

And when it came to the Battle of Kadesh, she learned of the great conflict between Egyptians and Hittites. The battle where Ramesses crushed the Hittites and yet the battle where both Egyptians and Hittites found victory… It was great to be sure but while it had been a tactical victory for the Egyptians it had been a strategic victory for both. Perhaps Old Kwee had favored the Egyptians a bit in the telling.

There were other tales of course. Tales of myth and legend… Tales that connected to the Trojan War were Paris and his captives Helen and her son Nicostratus came to the court of Seti II where good Set took Helen away from Paris and had a false Helen sent in her place to Troy.

"Go on daddy." She would say.


	8. Where Did All Those Years Go

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **Where Did All Those Years Go**

As it turned out the tomb did belong to a long forgotten pharaoh, a pharaoh named Ptah. The good name of Tina's father was restored.

After the discovery, the members of the expedition grew distant, or at least most of them did. Lee and Tina remained close as ever. Barrage retired from military service and started breeding geese. Stepak died unexpectedly. A flying ostrich killed him… He told it that ostriches can't fly and it came falling down right on top of him… Thus he died. As for Basil he did get out of Egypt, only to end up stranded in Denmark where he ended up being arrested because he was wearing blue shoes. He ended up sharing a cell with Holger Holgaart, who was serving time for accidentally damaging a statue of Holger Danske. Basil was released a year later but Holger was serving life imprisonment. He was later released when it was discovered that the statue was not of Holger Danske but was rather a statue of Sweyn Forkbeard that was so poorly made one believed it was a statue of Holger Danske.

Eight years passed since the discovery of the tomb of Ptah. Lee and Tina were now engaged. This left them to wonder where did all those years go?

They had been introduced as children. Tina was the daughter of a great archaeologist and Lee the student of that great archaeologist… They grew to like each other very quickly.

The two learned together about Egypt and beyond. Besides about Egypt they also learned about Babylon, Greece most specifically Macedonia, Japan's Yamato period, Rome, Carthage, Palmyra and the Hittites. It may have been much to learn of but it was believed that to know about Egypt, one had to know about the neighbors of Egypt. Japan's Yamato period however was just for fun.

Time went on. They became closer. They met new friends. They met Cam at a dinner that James Fenimore Cooper was hosting. They met Holger at a performance of Hamlet. They met Biffy at Walter Scott's funeral. As for Barrage they met at what could best be described as an outdoor opera. They didn't end up meeting Basil until the expedition and only came to know him so well because of how vocal he was. Or did they? He was a vocal person but otherwise completely forgettable and would probably constantly have the wrong name in the newspapers, Leonidas Rathbone for example, and ultimately books on the subject. However it is also possible that Basil could have forgotten meeting them and they had forgotten meeting him. Whatever it was, there was some sort of first meeting.

Where did all those years go since they all met? To somewhere wonderful!

And that was the truth.


	9. At A Distance

**Welcome back everyone. Enjoy and review.**

 **At A Distance**

Two years after the marriage of Lee and Tina, Basil found himself being questioned by a historian on the events of the discovery of Ptah's tomb. Being glad to give information, Basil answered the questions.

"Is it true there was an assassination attempt on Mrs. Ping's life?" asked the historian.

"No, that is actually something that happened on a later expedition… One that I was also present for!"

"What happened?"

"I was present for the expedition, not the assassination attempt but I saw who it was at a distance."

"Who was it?"

"Chaz Moneranian." Stated Basil.

"Was he alive when you saw him?"

"If you can call the state he was in alive."

"What about Ptah's mummy? Did you ever see that?" asked the historian.

"As with Moneranian, only at a distance." Basil placed his feet on the table of the French café they were in. "You see I was inhuming someone when they brought it out."

"Who was it?"

"No one that you need to pry about."

"Alright then, what of Old Kwee's death?"

"That was before the expedition."

"The curse?"

"A myth like all curses!"

"The love triangle between Mr. Ping, Mrs. Ping and Captain Barrage?"

"Fiction! Fiction! Fiction!" exclaimed Basil. "If I ever hear any talk of that nonsense again I'll blood eagle someone!"


	10. Lord Carnarvon

**Welcome back everyone. This is the end of this story. Enjoy and review.**

 **Lord Carnarvon**

Lord Carnarvon smiled upon those who participated in the expedition. He smiled most upon Lee and Tina, praising them, heaping much praise on them. He had a great interest in Egyptology and would smile upon all who took part in the field and would praise whoever came back from Egypt successful. Indeed he was the father of that same Lord Carnarvon who would be Howard Carter's partner in the search for the tomb of Tutankhamun.

To smile and praise those who chose to live in Canada may have been something odd to do and yet that was what Lord Carnarvon did. Indeed to praise anyone from Canada, France, Ireland and Scotland seemed like an unthinkable thing to do but as it would turn out in years to come those nations were the greatest of nations, the noblest of nations the most heroic of nations yet also the most flawed of nations but less flawed than other nations.

And when Lord Carnarvon died, as he had to unfortunately otherwise his son never would have become Lord Carnarvon, Lee and Tina mourned he who had heaped so much praised on them. They mourned he who had ignored their backgrounds and praised them for their deeds.

 **The End**


End file.
